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‎The Liberal government was aware of the risks of loaning millions to MaRS to build an office tower, Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid says.

“There was always an element of risk to this project,” Duguid said Thursday at a cabinet retreat in Scarborough.

That risk was realized in January when MaRS told the province it could no longer make payments on the $224 million loan, leaving taxpayers holding the bag to the tune of $450,000 a month in interest payments.

“The key here is that risk was underwritten by the value of the building,” Duguid said.

The 20-storey office tower in the shadow of Queen’s Park is mostly empty with just over 30 per cent of the space leased.

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On top of the outstanding loan to MaRS, the government last month bought out the U.S.-based developer, Alexandria Real Estate, bringing the total bailout to $309 million.

Duguid complained part of the reason the building is crying for tenants is the fact the company had imposed exorbitant rents.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa said he’s not letting MaRS off the hook for reneging on the ‎loan.

“I am recovering it. All of it . . . I am getting it all back. That’s the purpose here,” Sousa told reporters.

Treasury ‎Board President Deb Matthews said meanwhile the province is trying to get out of the real estate business.

“It is true we are getting out of the real estate business but MaRS is a hub of (scientific) innovation and now that we have removed that American real estate company from the mix we can move forward‎ . . . as to what happens to that building,” she told reporters.

Matthews claimed the developer would have rather seen the building empty rather than lease it because of the costs associated with having tenants.

“They were a hindrance to filling it up,” she said.

NDP MPP Percy Hatfield (Windsor-Tecumseh) said the Liberals have done everything in their power to cover up the MaRS bailout.

“On the day Ontario’s new lieutenant governor was being sworn in, you tried to bury the fact that public dollars were being used to bail out MaRS and a U.S. real estate company to the tune of $309 million. Apparently, you forgot to mention you knew that Ontarians would be paying more costs,” he said in a letter to Duguid dated Thursday.

“It’s why I have to keep wondering how the Liberal government can keep claiming it’s being open and transparent about the MaRS bailout scandal, when the facts show more secrecy and hidden costs.”

Hatfield said the $7.1 million a year the government is spending on interest for the Phase 2 MaRS tower could be better spent on hiring 118 new nurses, or providing more than 1,600 seniors with home care.

He went on to ask for questions of Duguid:

How much interest are Ontario families paying on the ill-advised MaRS loan and why are you hiding it from public scrutiny?

Does the Liberal government have any plan to pay off the MaRS loan or will Ontarians be paying $7.1 million every year without end?

Are the interest payments fixed or do they have the potential to rise with rates?

What other costs is the government still keeping secret?

“I’m calling on the Liberal government to come clean about the real costs of the MaRS bailout. Ontarians deserve to know the real priorities of this government,” Hatfield stated.

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